5 steps to help employees provide best animal care

Helping your farm's employees to do their best in caring for the pigs will set your farm up for success.

Pork producers share a common interest with the general populace with the goal of providing the best care for the animals within their barns. Pigs receiving good care on farms will reward the producer with top performance and ultimately producing a quality pork product for the consumer.

Animal welfare took center stage during the recent National Pork Board’s Pig Welfare Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, stressing the importance that the entire pork industry chain be on the same page.

Producers and their farm employees are missioned to do the best job that they can to set the pigs up to return their best for the farm. Keith Schoettmer, Schoettmer Prime Pork of Tipton, Ind., says even the best-laid plans and best management can be derailed by anomalies within the pigs themselves. “Sometimes the pig ‘slices two fairways over’ even though you’ve done everything as spelled out in your training videos,” Schoettmer says, using a golf analogy.

With that in mind, giving your employees the resources necessary to do their jobs can set the operation on the road for successful and profitable pig production. Schoettmer outlines five things that his operation implements to “help our people be the best.”